After months spent occupying McPherson Square, National Park Service police clad in riot gear arrived on February 4 to inspect the occupation and bring it into “compliance” with park regulations. Park Service police began to seize and destroy occupiers’ property. A slow-motion eviction unfolded as a team of Park Service workers wearing hazmat suits moved through the park removing tents. By 6:30 pm, Occupy DC participants had been entirely run out of the park.

Occupy DC and an encampment at Freedom Plaza called Occupy Washington DC both face a noon deadline that has passed. As CNN reports, the Park Service “will allow tents to remain in the parks, but protesters must remove camping gear and leave one side of the tents open at all times.” The gear will have to be gone, but the Park Service will allow tents, which have become a symbol of the movement, to stay up in the park.

The House Committee for Oversight & Reform, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, held a hearing on the presence of Occupy DC in McPherson Square. The hearing was titled “Who Made the Decision to Allow Indefinite Camping?” and called into question the National Park Service’s role in allowing occupiers to have tents and engage in what Issa and other members of Congress believe to be illegal camping.

DC residents should ask the city and police what kind of crime and safety problems have actually arisen since the group began camping. DC residents should ask if there should be as many police on patrol as there typically are. And, DC residents should ask if the city can cut back on the number of officers so officers can get back to patrolling neighborhoods where their presence is actually needed.